Filming Day 1- Rochester

26/7/2015 - Rochester

 

We began our filming on our visit to Rochester. we felt that it would be a great place to film as it is a town full of history which will add an authentic look to our video. As the weather was rather dull on the day, we thought that it would be the perfect opportunity for us to film the breakup scenes that we had planned as it set the mood. We wanted the outfit to look very casual to match the relaxed/sad feel.

We tried a variety of camera shots, such as in the cafe. They were mainly wide shots as you are able to see the background which is very unique and colourful, very suiting to our more creative video. The fact that the coffee shop has an alternative vibe in itself matches our alternative genre in our music video.  We also made sure that we filmed lots of close-up shots of Nova as it emphasised the glum expressions on her face. The close ups exaggerated the intense heartbreak that Nova was clearly feeling and this was able to be presented to the audience with ease due to this.
The mid shots presented an overview of her body language without giving too much away- this would further intrigue the audience yet still make them aware of how distraught she is.

We filmed in a cafe called 'The Deaf Cat' which is a very unique building providing you books to read as you sip at your coffee. It definitely fit in with the 'edgy' look we were going for, also providing us continuity as the edginess of the location matches the artist's individual style.

As seen in the pictures, you can see how colourful the brightly patterned walls are, this gave us a lot to work with and we could see ourselves putting a subtle wash over the imagery during the editing process to make it stand out even further and catch the audience's attention.

Whilst in the castle grounds, we shot a range of long shots, close ups and mid shots of the artist as well as establishing shots of the castle/cathedral to set the scene and give the audience some variety. Evie climbed up to the top of a castle wall to get an extreme high angle shot- these shots are not present in many existing music videos therefore we will have broken the typical conventions and set us apart from the rest.

Our trip to Rochester allowed us to film a lot of break up scenes which was our ultimate aim. On our next filming day to Whitstable we plan on filming more of the flashbacks and memory scenes which will convey a happy, nostalgic mood.

Overall this trip to Rochester has been a success. Although the weather was not great it really ended up complimenting the sad mood that we are trying to convey. We worked together well as a team as our ideas naturally bounced off each other, also using our analytical skills to discuss what looks good and what doesn't.

Outfit: We chose to go with the relaxed, casual, 90's vibe outfit for the breakup scene. It fits in with the location of the filming as it is quite edgy. I think the outfit is successful because it matches the mood that the artist would be feeling after a breakup- the dark colours represent sadness.

Reviewing footage from filming day:

In this medium camera shot, it shows Nova sitting at the table in the coffee shop. We wanted her to clearly look like she is unhappy (as it is a breakup scene) and in the video she laughs a little which makes it look unconvincing- this could take away how professional our video turns out to be which is why we won't be using this shot.

This medium wide shot shows the artist sitting on a wall with trees and a bridge seen in the background. I think that the shot is quite picturesque which will fit in well within our music video however not everyone in our group is 100% sure about it- we are concerned that this clip will look too different amongst the shots later in the video where she is happier (before the breakup) as although we want to show that this is a breakup scene, we are unsure whether it will be clear enough. The artist is seen with a glum look on her face which clearly suggests she is unhappy- in that sense it is successful and she has portrayed the emotions she is feeling very well.

Within the camera work, this is a little bit of tracking and the artist tended to follow it by moving her head. I think this looks successful as it naturally occurred without me directing her to do so, this therefore means that it appears effortless to the viewer which I believe is very comforting to watch.

After much discussion, we decided that the clip that we think we would really want to use is when the artist is looking down and her hair is blowing in the wind. We think that it would look particularly good in slow motion as this is quite a conventional element of a music video.

This is a low angle shot of the artist walking around Rochester's iconic cathedral. We thought that it would be a successful place to film as it is filled with beautiful stained glass windows which would really suit the bold colours that we plan to put later in our video. The cathedral would link in well too as it is obviously associated with religion and that is something that people turn to when going through a tough time- in this case it would be Nova's break-up. Overall, I am not too much of a fan of the low angle camera shot as we are not planning on using this anywhere else in our music video which means we risk inconsistency. Saying this however, I do think that the low angle shot makes Nova look like the star of the show as the shot makes her appear larger and more powerful. The shot also gets a lot of the cathedral's surrounding décor in it which looks visually successful so I'm sure there will be a bit of a debate between our group when deciding whether to actually use this clip during the editing process.